Paul Phua had already got one shove through uncontested but when he shoved again he found a customer. Phua moved in for 4,425,000 from the cutoff and it folded to Rick Salomon in the big blind. He wanted a count and when he'd chewed it over he announced call.
Phua:
Salomon:
The flop meant a chop was now a possibility, but the turn and river kept Salomon in front. Just 10 players remain, when one more player is knocked out the final nine players will re-draw for the unofficial final table.
Andrew Pantling, despite losing that big pot just now, is truly steamrolling. He has a stack of above 30,000,000, opening just about every hand and three-betting a fair share when someone has opened before him.
He took pots of Tsang and Katz but his biggest donator has been De Carolis. No showdown except for a pot where Pantling made two pair on the river with , bit it's fair to say Pantling is fearless and not afraid to play big pots.
In the first hand after the break, Andrew Pantling raised to 650,000 and Sean Dempsey three-bet all in from the cutoff. The button folded, and action was on Elton Tsang in the small blind. He asked for an exact count, which turned out to be 6,925,000. Tsang thought for a minute, then called, and Pantling folded.
Tsang:
Dempsey:
The flop fell , giving Tsang a flush drawing and stealing two of Dempsey's outs. The turn was the , and the river the . Dempsey received no help, and Tsang won the hand with jacks up to send Dempsey to the rail.
On the last hand before the break Anatoly Gurtovoy raised to 500,000 and Brandon Steven smooth called from the big blind. On the flop Gurtovoy bet 525,000 and Steven called. Fourth street was the and again Steven check-called, this time the amount was 1,000,000.
The river put four diamonds on board and both players checked it down. Steven showed and Gurtovoy couldn't beat it.
Action folded to Andrew Pantling in the cutoff and he opened for 600,000. The button and small blind folded but Alfred De Carolis in the big blind made the call.
The flop came and De Carolis carefully tapped the table to check. Pantling made a bet of 725,000 and De Carolis looked at his chips before cutting some out and putting them in the middle while glancing at Pantling's bet.
By accident, De Carolis had taken two 500,000-chips and two 100,000-chips - making it 1.2 million and effectively raising. He was forced to make it 1,425,000 and action was back on Pantling.
"I'm all in" Pantling said without much emotion.
De Carolis thought about it for about 10 seconds before he said "Call!" with a whole lot more passion.
Alfred De Carolis:
Andrew Pantling:
The on the turn didn't bring any cheering or clapping, and neither did the on the river initially.
De Carolis left his shoulder hanging for just a bit before Haralabos Voulgaris said "Straight". Only then De Carolis realized he had won the hand and he yelled "Yes!"
As the counting started (De Carolis was about to get his 10,545,000 stack back times twice plus the small blind and antes) De Carolis said: "Andrew, you really tried to powerplay me! I really meant to just call."
"That's why you play poker," Voulgaris laughed, "You fuck up and get there."